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5 Reasons to Pull Off I-70 in Wilson, Kansas

Need a break while cruising I-70 across Kansas? Pull off at Exit 206-Wilson, halfway between Kansas City and Colorado, for shopping, lake adventures and a historic lodge.

Writer: Debbie Leckron Miller

Here are 5 reasons to take I-70’s Exit 206 and head south two miles into Wilson or north five miles to Wilson Lake:

#1: Midland Railroad Hotel, Wilson The 1899 three-story limestone hotel, built as a stop for travelers on the Union Pacific Railroad, still pampers guests in 28 restored period rooms. A tavern serves comfort food like meat loaf, burgers and chicken-fried steak. In a nod to the town’s Czech heritage, kolaches (sweet dough with fruit filling) and locally-smoked sausages come on the complimentary breakfast buffet. In front of the hotel, trains whiz through town but don’t stop anymore, their whistles a reminder of the hotel’s roots (midlandrailroadhotel.com).

#2: Wilson’s Czech heritage The “Czech Capital of Kansas” and its 780 residents go all-out Czech the last weekend of July. The After Harvest Czech Festival includes polka bands, Czech dancers, beer gardens, an hour-long parade and church dinners serving jaternice (Czech sausage), dumplings, roast pork, kraut and kolaches. If you don’t happen to visit then, you can still see the town’s 20-foot-tall, hand-painted “world’s largest Czech egg” in a Wilson gazebo (wilsonczechfest.com).

#5: Wilson Lake Five miles north of I-70 along the Post Rock Scenic Byway, Wilson Lake offers a 9,000-acre oasis in the Smoky Hills. Red sandstone outcroppings create cliffs and pillars along parts of the shoreline. Visitors enjoy swimming beaches, camping, boating, fishing, hunting, cabin rentals and a network of both paved and gravel trails. Avid bikers get a workout on the rugged 25-mile-long Switchgrass Bike Trail that twists through red sandstone canyons (ksoutdoors.com).